Letter to the Editor: Utah Power and Tree Limbs

By LORRAINE JENSEN Cleveland

Editor,
Until two weeks ago, this once beautiful, massive Blue Spruce tree adorned our front yard. But this first week in November there will only be a stump and a huge void in the front yard where this 80 foot giant has grown and stretched its branches toward the sky since planted from a six inch seedling.
In June 1952, a very tiny Blue Spruce was planted where it now stands and has grown through the 53 years to be a thing of beauty until the tree trimmers contracted by Utah Power trimmed our tree. When confronted about the way they massacred our tree, we were told that they had guidelines they had to follow, and this was for the best health of our tree.
We are at a loss to understand why this year, they have the best health of the trees in mind, and they tell us that’s why they have trimmed all the trees in Cleveland like they have. They have a funny definition of trimmed.
Utah Power has had the trees trimmed for years and years and they have never, ever ruined the looks of every tree like they have this year. Cleveland is a small community and our residents have a lot of pride in our little town. The majority of the residents work very hard to clean and beautify our yards and our town, and then numerous trees throughout the whole town have had their beauty ruined because of the way they have been trimmed.
We realize that Utah Power has to keep the tree limbs out of their power lines, and other years they have done a good job, and the trees haven’t become diseased as a result of the trimming.
It’s my opinion that they wanted to make our trees look so bad that we would take them completely out and they won’t have to deal with them ever again.
What gives any company the right to have someone come onto private property and deface it like they have throughout Cleveland these last few weeks? If anyone were to go onto their property and deface it to the point that something had to be removed or destroyed, they would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
They have trimmed the ends of the branches of our Blue Spruce out of the lines many, many times throughout the years, and it has always remained a healthy tree. It was not necessary to cut those branches completely to the trunk and above the power wires 20 feet high. It could have been trimmed as in years past, and we could still enjoy the magnificence of this tree. Furthermore, if the power lines hadn’t been moved back to where they now stand, this tree’s branches would never have reached them.
Had we been advised how they were going to ruin our tree, we could have donated it to the Capitol for a Christmas tree. At least it could have been enjoyed by thousands of people during the holiday season. Instead, as it stands now, the tree will be a total waste, and our holiday season will have a hole in as big as the hole they cut in our pine.
We are encouraged to plant trees and flowers to beautify our yards and communities in Emery County. My question is, for what?